A bad economy with fewer high paying jobs can attract some people into the drug trade.  The head of the Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team says the war on drugs is as fierce as ever. Fewer jobs and a loss of hope are by-products of a weak economy and may play into a thriving drug trade right now,  that definitely contributes to it.  Head of the Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team, Ken Mannix says meth continues to be the biggest challenge in Central Oregon and throughout the state: “And probably the biggest thing is that meth is such a highly addictive drug; that once people are on it it's extremely difficult to free yourself of that.  It’s a craving; it’s an addiction and once people get on it it’s hard to get off and as things go, it seems like the more they use the more they want and with that is the fallout of other crimes.” Besides meth, the other big hard drugs authorities are fighting are heroin and cocaine.